2 former immigration judges sue Trump administration over their removal
Two former immigration judges have sued President Donald Trump's administration over their removal, alleging they were discriminated against for political affiliation, sex, race, and past association with immigrant advocacy groups.
Carla Espinoza, a former judge in Chicago who was removed from her position with the Department of Justice last year, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday accusing the federal government of "firing" her based on her previous work as an immigration lawyer, as well as her race and sex.
Espinoza is one of 113 immigration judges who have been removed during the current Trump administration, according to the National Association of Immigration Judges. She was appointed as a judge in August 2023 and was dismissed this past August.
According to the filing, DOJ’s Executive Office for Immigration Review began issuing memos in early 2025 that characterized immigrant advocacy organizations as "extremist" and promised to “penalize illegal DEI preferences."
Espinoza alleges in the complaint that following policy shifts, the federal government “chose to fire from EOIR a disproportionate number of women, people of color, ethnic minorities, and persons associated therewith.”
A second former immigration judge who filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration last week alleged the federal government was motivated to remove her from her position because of her political affiliation, sex, age, race, and past association with immigrant advocacy groups.
The two former immigration judges were in temporary probationary periods and argue in their complaints that the DOJ had a policy and custom that upon the completion of a temporary term, the agency would routinely convert that probationary judge's status to permanent immigration judge.
Kyra Lilien, who was appointed as an immigration judge in 2023 and oversaw cases at the Concord Immigration Court in California, said her position ended in 2025 without the routine conversion to a permanent position.
According to the complaint, the federal government “began issuing numerous memoranda announcing the end to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (‘DEI’) efforts.”
“The memorandum stated that the Agency had reviewed the hiring materials of all Immigration Judges hired under the prior administration, and alleged that persons of ‘certain backgrounds’ were given favorable treatment over others,” Lilien’s attorneys said in the complaint. “The memorandum concluded that EOIR was ‘committed to rectifying those harms.’”
“Together, the memoranda laid bare management’s hostility to hiring individuals with immigrants’ rights backgrounds, women, ethnic minorities, and others who may be considered ‘DEI’ hires,” her attorneys said.
ABC News has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment.
